Posts filed in:Food

Green Coffee Capsule

Sustainable Coffee Capsule Alternatives

I have to start this article by putting my hand up and saying that I’m a Nespresso hater. It’s not just because everyone has one it’s the waste created by the capsules and the cheap appliances that will have inevitably short lives before joining their capsules in landfill.

I’ve heard and subsequently re-told stories about how Nespresso capsules really have instant coffee inside them, how they don’t have as much cafeine as real coffee and how they use artificial chemicals to imitate the flavours (without knowing if any of these things are true). What’s worse is that I did this before I’d even tried coffee from a Nespresso machine!

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Posted by Andrew Rogers

Mountain Goat Organic Steam Ale

Australian Organic Beers

Unfortunately it’s slim pickings drinkers of Australian organic beers at the moment. Unless you happen to live near one of a handful of boutique brewers you’re pretty much limited to Mountain Goat’s Organic Steam Ale.

As Deena Shanker explains over at Grist, the organic ingredients don’t really change the taste to the benefit to the consumer is purely the knowledge that the ingredients were grown using more sustainable practices.

Thankfully it’s quite a different store with local organic wines.

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Posted by Andrew Rogers

kalleske-clarys-gsm

Australian Organic Wine Producers

Australia has a strong local market for the production of wines that are free of or have minimal use of chemicals and artificial fertilisers. They use grapes which are grown using methods that are mindful of the environment and with an understanding of sustainability and often bottled with no or minimal use of  preservatives.

We’ve compiled a comprehensive listing of all Australian wineries producing certified organic and bio-dynamic wines in addition to those which are employing these practices to some degree without full certification.

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Posted by Andrew Rogers

abc-vegieguide-app

Veggie Garden App

Are you eager to eat home grown veggies, have bought all the plants but aren’t having much success in getting edible produce out of your garden? The ABC Vegie Guide app for iPhone and iPad is the answer.

The app will help you find out what veggie should be planted when for your location. It provides all the information you need to produce healthy crops throughout the year, including growing tips, pest and disease control pointers and harvest guide

Posted by Andrew Rogers

Screen Shot 2015-04-10 at 5.17.33 pm

Garden Mulcher

Look after your garden and buy a shredder. Put through it anything that won’t naturally breakdown quickly and then add it to your compost or use directly as mulch on your garden.

Let’s think about the alternative – plants grow in your garden using nutrients from the soil, they die or you cut them down and put them in your green waste bin. A man then drives around town in a truck to take your plants somewhere else where they’ll rot. Why not let them rot at home where they can help your garden grow? Abandon your green waste bin for ever and buy a mulcher!

 

Posted by Andrew Rogers

slugga-tape

Copper Barrier Snail and Slug Protection

Not so happy about the snail trails in your veggie patch? Loosing your best produce but don’t want to mix poison with your food? Install Slugga around the permiter of your veggies and your patch will be snail and slug free. The copper in the tape reacts with their slime giving them little electric shocks that quickly turn them back. Buy it online from Masters.

Posted by Andrew Rogers

Bird-Scaring-Owl

Bird & Rat Scaring Owl

I’d protected the veggies from the dog and the slugs but my ripe veggies and new seedlings continued to disappear. A quick check with the thermal imaging camera confirmed my suspicions – rats. A plastic owl from your local Bunnings or online from Masters does an amazingly effective job of solving this problem.

The first couple of weeks of the plastic owl in my garden startled me when it caught my eye and owls don’t try to kill and then eat me very often. Imagine the effect on a rat! Evolution is on your side.

 

Posted by Andrew Rogers

Sydney-Stingless-Bees

Australian Native Stingless Bees

Do you like the idea of keeping bees but aren’t so fond of the idea of being stung? Try keeping Australian Native Stingless Bees. Keeping native bees is simple and family friendly. They’ll do a wonderful job of pollinating your flowers, fruit and veggie patches. You’re also doing your bit to help rebuild their population which has been declining due to development.

Note though that they’re not great honey producers, they need to keep most of the small quantity they make to feed on through the winter.

 

Posted by Andrew Rogers

Wet A Chook Automatic Chicken Drinker

Automatic Clean Water Chicken Drinker

Never fill up or clean out your chickens drinking water again. Australian made Wet-a-chook drinkers can be mains connected and include an innovative cup design that keeps their water clean.

Anyone who has kept chicken knows that traditional water dispensers are constantly filled with refuse by the chickens, are pooed in, and rapidly grow algae. Refilling and cleaning them is a needless chore.

Combined with a Chooktred the hardest part of looking after your chicken will be collecting delicious fresh eggs daily!

Posted by Andrew Rogers

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